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During the last couple of years, I’ve written some articles pointing to the emergence of 3D printing, urging you to at least be aware of the trends even if we agreed it wasn’t going to rock your world today. I wrote about it here, here, and here.

On several occasions, I’ve discussed 3D printing or directed you to some discussion of it. I’m here to do it again. I’ve gotten some feedback that it wasn’t practical or wasn’t going to happen quickly, but as far as I can tell it’s moving forward.

Mattel has announced a $300 3D printer that will allow kids to make toys. Yes, yes, I’m sure it’s limited in what it can do, etc., but it’s better than what was available before and not as good as what will be available tomorrow. And tomorrow’s will be even cheaper of course.

Television was first demonstrated back in the 1920s. But it was really wasn’t until the late 1950s that it took off. I don’t think breakthrough technologies take 30 plus years to make it into the mainstream any more. Maybe it’s better to say that once they reach their tipping point, their adoption accelerates dramatically. Why? Because that they come around no longer surprises us.

3D printing appears to be such a breakthrough. It’s already in use for prototyping, some kinds of customization, and no doubt uses I don’t know anything about. Here’s a link to some things they are being used for. Yup, there are definitely some I didn’t know anything about.

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Jeff Harbaugh has more than 20 years spent developing strategies to respond to changing market conditions, in-depth, objective knowledge of the action sports/outdoor/youth culture industry and skills to help you manage growth and make the transition from entrepreneur to manager.